The theory of happily ever after
by PARAdoxial
Summary: Sleeping Beauty is awake, Snow White is on the run from the queen, and Rapunzel's escaped from her tower. Together, they'll go on an adventure and find out whether happy ever after really exists. Rated T 'cause I'm paranoid.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Background stories are somewhat Disney-esque because the originals are too disgusting for me to use, especially sleeping beauty. Also, the princesses may seem Mary Sue-ish because if you've read the descriptions in the fairy tales…everyone in fairy tale land is as beautiful as day & handsome and brave unless they're evil. I put my version of the characters through a Mary Sue test and they all had safe scores. The beginning of Rapunzel is borrowed a bit from Tangled (great movie, I watched it…4 times?).

Disclaimer: I own nothing other than the princes and kingdoms. Fairy tales belong to the general public.

Thoughts are in _italic. _Long strings of periods signal a change in time or location. Ignore the first long bar.

**The theory of happily ever after**

**Sleeping Beauty**:

She woke to a gentle pressure on her lips. Her eyes wouldn't respond to her urge to open them. They were glued shut by a hundred years' worth of sleep.

Slowly, her senses came back, first touch- the pressure moved to her cheek but quickly disappeared-and then hearing- "~ we need to get back to Carmona…pointless…and the roses…" The voices faded away.

She didn't know how much time had passed before she forced her eyes open. There was a purple ceiling. And thin lavender curtains hanging around her. She was in a bed. She sat up. There was a table with a mirror hanging in front of it. She moved to it with slight difficulty, limbs unused for a century.

The figure looking back had blond hair, ragged from sleep, confused brown eyes, and skin pale from not seeing the sun for years. It looked very familiar to the girl. _'This is me.'_ And with that thought came another, _'Who am I?'_

Then, it all came rushing back. The worry as her birthday approached, the spinning wheel, and the cackle of the fairy as she fell to the ground. She moved away from the mirror and fell back onto the bed. _'I am Aurora, princess of Lindora, and the person I'm supposed to marry has just left to who knows where.' _

Another realization came to Aurora, my parents must be awake! Some servants may have detained the prince as he was leaving! She hurried down the tower's stairs. _'Curses, why did the fairies have to put me in the third tallest tower in this castle?'_

Aurora burst into the throne room. Her parents were in their chairs, looking regal and slightly dusty. But, when she walked up to them, Aurora could tell they were still sleeping. Her father snored and her mother's breath was deep and long.

Aurora slumped against her father's overly grand and large throne. Her mother would be shocked at her posture. _'But, she's not awake to reprimand me.'_

There were several servants sleeping in various positions around the room as well. Some were leaning against each other, gently breathing. A maid was lying next to a smashed pot, the water inside long evaporated.

It was as though the castle itself was sleeping. It was as though she was the only person in the world. It was as though…Aurora didn't want to think anymore. Her curse wasn't broken, yet she was awake.

'_I'm awake… that must mean that the prince's kiss was effective. Maybe I should hunt him down,' _she joked. As she thought about it a plan formed. Yes, she would travel in search of her prince.

Then, there'd be at least another kingdom willing to help her. Lindora was a prosperous kingdom until she was born and her parents forbade spinning wheels and the like. The prince would want the kingdom at least so Lindora would be safe from any attacking nations and other threats until she managed to wake her parents.

Aurora made up her mind; she would go looking for her mystery prince. Her only clue was this "Carmona" the voices had spoken about. If she remembered correctly, it was a neighboring kingdom. It would take several days just to reach the borders of her kingdom by horse, much less travel to the capital of Carmona. Aurora started preparations immediately.

…..

"Come on!" After much difficulty getting her horse saddled and ready, Aurora was trying to get her still sound asleep horse out of the stall and moving. Trying with very little success. The horse walked a few steps if she nudged it enough.

….

In a far off place, three fairies argued amongst themselves. "It's not helping much if we just wake up the horse."

"But it might go against the curse," the second fairy countered.

The first fairy turned to the third fairy, "Why'd you have to have them go to sleep for a hundred years anyway? You just love making our job difficult."

The third fairy shrank a bit. "It sounded poetic at the time. And why didn't everyone else wake up? The prince kissed her and the princess is awake. What happened!"

The first fairy glared at her and sighed into her palm. "This is what happens when you make the spells over-complicated!"

….

Finally, getting out of castle walls, the horse seemed to wake up. It shook its head and walked around briefly to get its muscles used to moving again. Aurora, confused but grateful, climbed onto the horse and they were soon trotting along.

'_If the horse wakes up as soon as we're outside of the castle, maybe my subjects haven't been affected.'_ But as her journey took her through the village, Aurora realized everything was dead asleep. It was eerily quiet and when she investigated one of the houses, even the cats and chickens were curled up unconscious.

Maybe it was just her imagination, but it seemed as though even the trees were sleeping. A soft snore came out of a nearby bush. Aurora jumped a bit and backed away…

Continuing out of the village, Aurora sighed to herself. She patted the horse, "Looks like it's going to be a long,_ quiet_ ride."

**Snow White:**

A knock sounded at her door. Snow White sighed. She'd been expecting this but not quite so soon after his arrival. "Come in." In walked a flower arrangement so extravagant that it required two servants to carry it.

A third person announced, "Prince Nathan sends his greetings and wishes to accompany you for tea and a walk in the afternoon." The two servants nearly toppled over trying to set the flowers on Snow White's table. She gestured toward them. "Don't bother. It'll just be more work for you when they die."

They set the flower pot on the ground and bowed their thanks. The maid was still waiting for a reply. Snow White sighed again, "Very well, tell him I shall meet him. Briefly." The maid left quickly.

Snow White leaned back in her chair and gazed into her mirror. What was all that great about her looks that brought these suitors from everywhere? The court poets waxed on about how her hair was as black as ebony, her skin as pale as snow, and her lips as red as blood.

Her own face looked like a statue to her. It was cold, emotionless, and too fine, too much like the porcelain dolls the daughters of nobles carried around.

'_Ah well, not as if it matters all that much.'_ Snow White looked up from her mirror at a different servant girl who was getting impatient. _'She must think me very vain, staring into the mirror like that.' _

"What is it?"

"The queen requests your presence in her quarters." The messenger left as soon as she finished speaking. Snow White got up to leave as well. She had no idea of what her step-mother wanted. Snow White was rarely in her presence and it seemed that her step-mother made sure of it.

….

The rather large room was filled with servants rushing about, holding cloth, jewelry, and various shades of rouge. In the center of the chaos was her mother examining herself in a full-length mirror-brought along with her when she married Snow White's father. She smiled coyly at her reflection.

The smile turned into a frown as she turned to Snow White. "You are to go out with the hunter to show him where you last spotted those deer. They will be our dinner tonight," she turned back to the mirror as a servant hung a jade amulet around her neck, "You are dismissed."

"Yes, Giselle." Her step-mother disliked being called mother, saying it made her feel old. Snow White left the room feeling remorseful for the deer. Hopefully, they would be some other grassy area. Even if she were to lead the hunter in opposite direction, he would find them if they were in the general forest.

….

The sky was cloudy as they walked. _'It's probably going to rain soon. I wish we could head back to the castle._' Reaching a small pond, Snow White stopped. "It was right here…" She turned around only to find the hunter with a raised knife.

She shrieked as the blade came slashing down at her throat. It stopped right before it hit her defenseless neck. She was trembling, careful not to make any contact with the sharp edge. Her legs collapsed on her and she fell to the ground.

Snow White struggled to get up. _'Run away, need to run away…Work! Move legs!'_ They would not respond. Snow White began crawling her way out of the clearing. She knew it was hopeless. This hunter could catch a running deer, much less a crawling princess.

The hunter approached with knife in hand. He grabbed her by the arm and forced her head onto a tree trunk. The sky chose that moment to start raining. He raised the knife a final time; Snow White closed her eyes waiting for the death blow.

It didn't come. She opened her eyes questioningly. The hunter threw her onto the forest ground. She took in a sharp breath at the harsh landing.

"The queen wants you dead and served for dinner. Run away and don't come back. I can't kill such a beautiful creature."

Snow White somehow managed to rise to her feet and took off into the forest. She didn't care where she was going as long as it was away from the hunter. Branches scratched her everywhere and she finally stopped as she tripped over a tree root. Gasping for breath, she rubbed her now scrapped knee and swelling ankle.

She looked at her surroundings. _'Tree, tree, bush, squirrel, tree, cottage, tree-wait, cottage? Out here?'_ Snow White got up and limped her way over to the door. The top of the door barely reached above her head. The cottage wasn't much taller than her. She knocked at the door and it fell open at the pressure. After a moment of hesitation, Snow White went in. She was met by a group of dwarves, seven to be exact.

She backed up. "I'm sorry, I thought it was empty. There were no lights and" One of the dwarves motioned her to stop talking. "It is nighttime, we were all sleeping."

Snow White flushed, "I'm sorry…Could I stay the night? It's just that it's raining and I'm lost and my step-mother ordered someone to kill me and my ankle- I think it's sprained. I'll just stay one night."

The dwarf motioned for her to stop talking again. "You can stay here, permanently, if you can keep the house for us when we're gone. And some cooking and cleaning never hurt anyone."

Snow White smiled gratefully at him, "Thank you so much." She was drenched, her ankle throbbed, and someone had tried to kill her but she felt very safe and warm as another dwarf threw a blanket over her shoulders and led her inside.

…..

All the servants had left Giselle's room. She stood in front of her mirror admiring herself, her stomach full of Snow White's organs. Giselle laughed to herself or maybe it was to the mirror.

"At last, that disgustingly perfect brat is gone. Now I am the fairest in the land."

…. ….

**Rapunzel:**

"Please! It's for my wife- she's pregnant." The man cowered in fear.

The witch's frown deepened but the murderous aura around her lessened. She considered this. It was very quiet around her tower. A child might be entertaining for a few years. If she tired of it, she could always leave it at some doorstep for a poor, old couple.

"Very well. You may have the vegetables, but in exchange I want your baby."

"Our baby! But-" His protests were cut off by the witch.

"The baby is fed by my rampion. I want the child."

The man weighed his options, his wife dying or giving away his child… "I-I give my child to you." The man quickly ran off, whispering words of apology to unborn child.

…..

Rapunzel shoved her travel pack under her bed as she heard a familiar voice.

"Rapunzel~ let down your hair." She quickly uncoiled her hair from its hook and threw it out the window- the only window in the tower without a thick glass pane. She began pulling up the person as soon as she felt the weight.

Mother Gothel stepped through the window. "Happy birthday, dear. I brought you some strawberries," she handed a basket to Rapunzel. Mother Gothel swept her dark hair off one shoulder.

Rapunzel played with _her_ golden hair tentatively. This next part was going to be tricky. She closed her eyes. "Mother? …For my birthday…"

Mother Gothel frowned. "Dearie, we talked about this, I'm not taking you outside of the tower. It's barbaric and dangerous out there."

Rapunzel continued, "I know, I've given up on that idea since my last birthday. I was wondering if you could get me those special paints, the ones made out of the shells you once brought me."

"Oh, but that's a very long trip…at least 3 weeks back and forth."

Rapunzel put on her best pleading look. It worked. "Fine, dearie. Are you sure you'll be alright by yourself?"

"There's plenty of food in the pantry and I can keep myself entertained. I know I'm safe as long as I stay in my tower." Mother Gothel departed soon after.

…

Taking a small piece of metal, that she had been keeping and sharpening against a stone, Rapunzel began cutting off her braid, piece by piece. At the end, her hair was still very long, ending at a bit below her knees.

The long hair felt like a part of hers; she couldn't imagine herself with short hair. Even so, as she finished off the last piece, her head felt unnaturally light. Gathering the rest of her braid, she put one end on the hook and dropped the rest out the window.

Rapunzel said silent apologies to her mother. But, she couldn't go her whole life seeing the outside world just from a window. And so, adjusting her travel pack one last time, she grabbed onto her hair and swung down to the ground.

…

A/N: So~ what'd you think? Please rate and review; I'd like to know what people think of my writing. Any suggestions and constructive criticism are welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Aurora purposely has no …I am forever forgetting what the term is (words like won't and can't) because I wanted her speech to be a bit more formal. I am in middle school and have not done an in-depth study of old English- thus, I don't believe myself to be qualified for thee and thou (_you_ can imagine it in iambic meter if you'd like)(plus, that's just so cliché).

THEA ch.2

Rapunzel laughed as she rolled on the ground. Grass and dirt and flowers! She rolled onto her stomach and blew the fluff off a wishflower. Then, abruptly, Rapunzel stood up and started walking. If she was to get a suitable distance away from her tower, she needed to start as soon as possible.

…

…And that's how she ended up in a tree. She'd always wanted to climb one, having read about it in her adventure novels. She'd spotted the perfect one… Anyway, she decided to head back down…how did she get up here again? That was when her foot stepped on air and Rapunzel fell to the ground.

…..

Aurora was eating her mid-day meal (bread and apples) when something fell down and landed with a thud near her. The something had a lot of hair…and was blonde. Two green eyes popped from behind the curtain of hair and Aurora rushed over to check on the…person, yes, a girl.

"My dear lord(**1**), are you conscious?"

The girl stared back at her. Aurora noted this as confusion from the fall.

"…Yes. I'm Rapunzel. What's your name?"

"My name be Aurora. Are you alright? Do you have need of any bandaging? Are you bleeding in any bodily places? I have medicinal supplies among my belongings." Aurora got more panicked with each question.

Rapunzel stared at the first person she'd ever met (other than Mothel Gothel). _'These people talk too much.' _ "I'm fine," she wriggled all of her limbs in proof, then hoisted herself off the ground. Some parts are her legs were scratched up and bleeding, and there was an ache in her back but Rapunzel considered herself to be in pretty good shape for someone who fell out of a tree. She examined her elbow, a large portion of skin had been scraped off, while she voiced her question. "Are you traveling anywhere? If so, might I come with?"

Aurora, first startled by the directness, but considered the proposition. _'Having someone to talk to would be nice…and of course, it is much safer with two people.' _"…I would very much enjoy that. Do you have a specific destination? I am heading to neighboring kingdom of Camorra. "

"No plans, anywhere is fine."

As they both got onto the horse, Aurora wanted to ask more, but decided it was rude and went with a different question.

"Pray tell, have you sighted any others?" _'Either my people are waking up, or I am nearing Camorra.'_

Rapunzel fascinated by the horse, replied absentmindedly, "Not in ages. This creature…what is it?"

Aurora gave Rapunzel an odd look. "A horse."

Rapunzel nearly squealed in glee, "So, this is a horse! They're larger than I imagined." She then proceeded to get lost in thought, quiet except for the occasional delighted giggle.

Aurora led the horse, pondering the weird- peculiarity of her traveling partner. After a long period of silence, Aurora cleared her throat. "If I could inquire for what reasons you were coming from the forest for? Are you from Camorra?"

Rapunzel casually spoke, "I've been locked in a tower in the forest. Are we nearing Camorra?"

"A tower? We should be along the border of Lindora and Camorra."

"Lindora! Fascinating mention in history."

Puzzled, Aurora asked, "Whatever for? We have had no great wars and I do not believe documenting 178 new species of plants goes done as a huge accomplishment."

Rapunzel's smile broadened even more. "178 species, I didn't know that! I was talking about the legend of the sleeping beauty. It's only found in the older books, and there's nearly no information on the actual kingdom, other than their huge clothing industry, which is related to the legend, since the spindles were banished."

Aurora was a mildly surprised. "You have much information, considering your habitation of a tower in the middle of an abandoned forest…Sleeping _beauty_, was it?"

"Yes, the princess is supposed to be quite the beauty."

Aurora flushed at this, "I wouldn't say that…" Rapunzel tilted her head, indictating her question. "I…am the sleeping princess of Lindora, although I am very much awake at the moment."

Rapunzel's eyes widened as she burst into excited chatter. "Fantastic! You must tell me all about Lindora in your time period." (3) The two spent the rest of their ride in pleasant chatter.

…...

"How did it burn! I was boiling water!"

Snow White tried fanning her apron which only made the flames leap higher. If, she didn't put this fire out, the whole wooden house would fall down. That would really help her try to freeload off the dwarves.

Finally getting an idea, Snow White grabbed a thick piece of kindling and used it to tip the scalding pot over. The remaining water rushed over the fire, putting it out with a loud crackling sound. (4) Snow White sighed. _'So, now what do I make for dinner…Soup! You just boil water and throw ingredients in.'_ She started another fire (5) and was about to throw the vegetables into the pot of boiling water, when she remembered the food she ate was in smaller pieces.

'…_Cut! I need to cut the vegetables. Knife, knife, where is a knife?' _

And that's how the dwarves found Snow White clutching a bleeding hand dripping onto to the floor, sitting surrounded by piles of butchered carrots and onions. She glanced up as they entered.

"Cooking is hard."

…..

"We've passed this tree five times." Rapunzel gestured toward said tree.

Aurora groaned. They'd been riding for what seemed like hours, yet no matter what direction they went in, they kept ending up at this tree. Rapunzel sniffed at the air.

"I've been thinking this for awhile, but doesn't it smell like gingerbread?"

Aurora suddenly noticed the smell as well. "…and sweetmeats, as well." Her stomach grumbled in response. Aurora's face flushed, while Rapunzel snickered. "Let's head toward the smell."

….

"It's….wow…now, I'm really hungry." Rapunzel licked her lips. She and Aurora were standing in front of a large gingerbread house, windows frosted with royal icing, shutters made out of thick chocolate shavings, and decorated with peppermint candies and gumdrops everywhere.

"I despise peppermints, yet for some reason, I have the desire to eat one of those." Rapunzel nodded in agreement. They looked at each other, then ran to the house and pulled off a piece of frosted gingerbread. Rapunzel looked at her piece of gingerbread oddly.

"Does the house look kind of glittery too you? Especially along the iced edges. It smells different than before too."

Aurora inspected the house then shook her head. Rapunzel regarded the cottage one last time, before stuffing her face with gingerbread and chocolate.

…

"How are you darlings? Full? Would you like some soup?"

Rapunzel jumped a bit at the voice. Aurora glanced at the gumdrop she was holding and tried to stick it back onto the cottage with a bite taken out of it. They both turned to face the voice. It came from an old lady with a wrinkled face, pleasant smile, and squinty eyes. Rapunzel thought that the lady also had a bit of a glittering air around her.

Aurora's gumdrop fell to the ground. Rapunzel and Aurora glanced at it, then back at the old lady whose gaze had never left their faces. There was an awkward silence. Aurora decided to speak.

"We, that is, I am Aurora and this is my companion, Rapunzel. We…were traveling and were very hungry and are greatly apologetic for…eating your home."

The old lady smiled, "It's alright, dearies. This happens all the time. Would you like to come inside for some soup?"

Rapunzel and Aurora looked at each other. Then, they both followed the lady into the house.

…..

The soup was disgusting. The lady had baked the house herself, but it was very apparent that she only good at making sweets. There was also a pair of young siblings eating dinner with them. The brother was 10 and the sister had proudly announced she was turning 8 in two months.

They both had brown-blond hair and blue eyes. The girl had a light dotting of freckles across the bridge of her nose that, she reported, she hated. Their names were Hansel and Gretel, and the old lady had also found them gnawing on her cottage after they were near starving from being lost in the forest.

Everyone at the table choked down the soup while the lady prepared dessert, which was highly anticipated. Aurora inquired about the siblings' circumstances while Rapunzel looked at her soup suspiciously.

"Why were you in the woods?"

Gretel seemed to do all the talking for the two. "Our dad got remarried to a real witch. Well, she couldn't do magic; I meant she was really mean. And she really hated us. We're really poor, and she always said that we take up a lot of the money. So, she told daddy to throw us out. He told her "no" a couple of times and they'd fight until daddy bought her a ribbon or piece of lace. Then, one day daddy gave us two loaves of bread and told us to go to the forest. He finally got rid of us." Gretel was near tears by the end of her story. Hansel laid a hand comfortingly on hers.

Aurora was shocked at their parents' cruel treatment while Rapunzel was shocked at the speed the girl spoke in a single breath. "How awful."

The girl brightened again, "Well, it's been better since we came here; we only got here three weeks ago. The food's bad but the sweets are yummy. Plus, Hansel and I don't have to do so many chores, anymore." Hansel smiled at his sister's cheerfulness.

The old lady returned with large slices of berry pie that was eagerly gobbled up. When they were finished, Rapunzel noticed a very large and purple bruise on Hansel's forearm when his sleeve slipped down as he handed his plate to the old lady. Rapunzel opened her mouth to inquire, when he shot her a look. She closed her mouth. Neither Aurora nor Gretel noticed their silent exchange.

…..

Aurora and Rapunzel had stayed for two days when they announced they would be leaving soon. Gretel burst into tears, "No! You should stay with us! Do you not like me anymore?" Aurora bent down to face the girl.

"Of course not, we just need to go some-" She was interrupted by Gretel tackling her with fierce squeeze. Rapunzel sighed. "We can stay a few more days." Gretel instantly hopped back up and stopped crying. She then proceeded to dragging Aurora back to playing dolls. Hansel and Rapunzel were left mystified. They looked at each other.

"Want to make mini gingerbread houses?" Hansel nodded. The two spent the rest of the day creating a gingerbread castle with a chocolate moat and candy cane dragons. They ate it for dinner.

…

Rapunzel yawned as her foot slipped. She tumbled down the stairs. As she was removing her face from the floor, Rapunzel heard a muffled cry. It came from below the floor boards. Drowsiness won over curiosity and Rapunzel slowly shuffled her way back to bed, after getting a drink of water.

…..

In the basement, the old lady poked at the now unconscious Hansel. He was bound by ropes to a chair with iron locks around his wrists. "Still not plump enough. She waved her hand around until she found the needle she was looking for. "Curse this eyesight. It's used to be so much easier when I could see. Now I have to resort to potions; I prefer my children organic."

She poked the needle into a fleshy piece; she wasn't sure whether it was an arm or leg. At the sudden prick, Hansel woke up and tried to pull away from the needle. The old witch felt this and smacked at where she thought his face was. Her hand hit his ear and neck, leaving a red mark that would turn blue in the morning. "Brat! I already warned you! Or do you want to see your sister eaten in front of your eyes?" Hansel furiously shook his head, even though he knew the witch couldn't see. The witch injected the rest of the serum into his arm and left the room.

Hansel could only protect his sister from getting eaten if he was still alive. Hansel had hope though; he'd convince the nice older girls to take Gretel with them when they left. Then she'd be safe. Hansel saw the room going black. This was the best part, falling asleep. He hated the mornings; waking up and throwing up quietly from nausea, careful not to disturb his sister's sleep.

…

Aurora was helping Gretel pull a cookie jar out when a thick book toppled out with the jar. Aurora's eyes widened at the title, greatly alarmed. Gretel wiping cookie crumbs from her mouth looked confusedly at Aurora. "Ahrowa(6)? What does the book say? I can't read."

Aurora smiled reassuringly but didn't answer the girl. She ran to get Rapunzel.

…..

She found her drawing pictures with Hansel. Rapunzel was as fond of Hansel as Aurora was of Gretel. Rapunzel thought Gretel spoke too much and was too excitable, in complete contrast to Hansel, whose voice she had never heard. Aurora thought everything about Gretel endearing and adorable.

Rapunzel handed Hansel another sheet of paper. The boy was quite good at drawing and had several pieces of paper covered with dragons (7) and various things around the garden. They looked up at the same time as Aurora arrived loudly, with Gretel at her tail.

"You need to see this." Rapunzel followed Aurora without a word. Hansel gave Gretel a look. Gretel shrugged.

…..

Rapunzel looked at the book incredulously. "101 ways to cook children? Are you sure this isn't a joke book or something?" Aurora shook her head.

"I found several like this in her cabinets."

The old lady in question, chose that moment to show up. "Hello, dearies. What are you talking about?"

"You have a lot of books…what are they about?" Aurora turned to Rapunzel shocked at her blatant question. Rapunzel motioned for her to keep quiet. The old lady frowned. "Why do you want to know?"

"Oh, I see them everywhere. None of us can read, so I was just wondering." The old lady's smile returned as soon as heard this. "They're just some old cookbooks. I'm practically blind as a bat now, so there isn't much use for them. Some have recipes for sweets like my lovely little house, and others are for…special ingredients. Now, I have to tend to my carrots. Goodbye darlings."

Hansel and Gretel showed up after the old lady left. Rapunzel remembered something from a few days ago…and suddenly grabbed Hansel by the arm and pushed back his sleeve. Half of his entire forearm was green and black with puncture holes everywhere. Gretel looked from his arm to his face, shocked. Hansel glared at Rapunzel. Rapunzel decided to improvise.

"Don't worry Gretel; Hansel and I were playing with some paints earlier. I just wanted to check if it was still there…I'll paint a butterfly for you later. Go pick out the colors you want." Gretel, satisfied, walked off to find the perfect shade of pink and purple. Hansel gave a sigh of relief while Aurora and Rapunzel loomed over him. "Explain, now."

…

They looked at him, horrified (8). Hansel shifted uncomfortably. Rapunzel's mouth was open. "You mean she's been slowly marinating you?" Hansel nodded.

"I don't know what she uses. I always wake up to the room spinning really fast and it makes me really dizzy. She hits me if I don't let her put it in. Said she'd eat Gretel first if I don't let her. You have to take Gretel with you when you leave!"

Rapunzel nudged Aurora. "Planning time." They sent Hansel away with the guarantee of escape for all of them. The rest of the afternoon was spent in whispered voices, formulating a general plan.

…..

Snow White stared out the window. The dwarves were still letting her stay with them even though she couldn't do anything for them. She was decent at wiping dust off things, but broke all the dishes she washed and Uriah, the head dward, hadn't let her try cooking since the knife incident. She wished them well as they left to go to the mines. Snow White was determined to find _something_, anything that she was good at.

This led to the ribbon accident ("I was trying to sew a dress when the length of ribbon I was using, suddenly had the desire to choke me.), the comb occasion ("I have no idea what happened, I was trying to dress my hair by myself when…I'm still not sure exactly what just happened."), and the apple affair ("I swear I wasn't trying to poison you with pie! (9))

The dwarves returned home and Uriah and Iliad started preparing tonight's dinner. Over the sound of chopping carrots, Uriah asked Snow White, "So, how'd it go today?"

"Sewing. Which I found out is much different from embroidery. The shirt is now a new pillowcase for you. I stitched carrots and onions on this one." Snow White was finding the only things she excelled at were what the palace governesses had taught her. Embroidery and flower arranging and dancing, which were great and all, but nothing she had been taught was useful here.

"Tomorrow, I'm going to try to carve something." Uriah looked sharply at her at the idea of her holding a knife again.

…..

Uriah tried not to laugh but a chuckle came out. Snow White shot a glare at him. "So…what is it?"

"It was going to be a tree, but as you can see I changed my mind and made it a potato."

Quess shouted for everyone to come in for dinner. Uriah and Snow White got up from the swinging bench they were sitting on and headed inside, where sounds of hungry dwarves and metal utensils were heard throughout the cottage.

…

"Gretel, we are playing a new game, 'How quiet can you be'. Be as silent as possible or you lose!" Aurora played off the girl's competitiveness. Gretel immediately shut her mouth and fiercely held her lips together. Hansel looked impressed. Rapunzel glanced around the corner. "We're good."

The girls had already gotten Aurora's horse prepared with a cart, telling the witch they were leaving today. Hansel and Gretel curled up under the huge mound (purposely arranged so) of belongings in the cart attachment. Aurora and Rapunzel went to say good-bye to the witch, though it sickened them to do so. The witch waved them goodbye with a kindly smile but her face had a rapacious look to it.

Rapunzel was just about to mount the horse when the witch spoke, "Have you seen Hansel and Gretel? I haven't seen the dears all morning."

Aurora froze. Rapunzel tried to keep her voice casual. "Gretel kept telling me how she was going to pick flowers to make a garland. I think she's in the forest gathering wildflowers." Gretel poked Hansel with a questioning look at the lie. Hansel put a finger to his lips, indicating silence. The witch frowned.

"Oh, is that so, I hope she doesn't wander too far. The forest can be very dangerous, and so easy to get lost." Here, the old witch mouth widened to a leer. "I do hope you have a safe trip."

Aurora mounted the horse and she called out, "I thank you for hospitality. Goodbye!" She set the horse at a walking speed. The witch disappeared into the house. Rapunzel took one final glance back at the gingerbread house.

The witch was coming back out, holding something wooden. Rapunzel squinted trying to get a better look. Sunlight glinted on a small part of it. Suddenly, Rapunzel shouted for Aurora to go as fast as possible. "Go, go, go!" Just as the horse started galloping, a small arrowhead pierced the tree, right where Aurora's torso had been. Aurora urged the horse faster. "What just occurred!"

"Crossbow! (10)" Rapunzel held tight as they made their escape, the arrows hitting a few trees off in a wide spread.

"I thought she was blind in the eyes!" Aurora shouted over the loud clamor of the horse and cart bouncing behind them.

"Her aim is way off! I think she's just shooting at where she hears us!"

As they rode away, they heard the witch cackle, "Run, run! This is a magical forest! All roads lead back here!"

…..

Gretel munched on her apple quietly. Aurora had already lifted the silence game after declaring Gretel the winner, but she was still strangely silent. Hansel was getting worried. Rapunzel watched the two of them and sighed. "Okay, what's wrong?"

Gretel looked up with wet eyes. "Why did we leave? I liked it there." Rapunzel mentally smacked her head. _'Of course she doesn't know.'_ She got up and pulled Aurora from where she was sitting along with her. "Aurora and I are going for a walk. Hansel will explain."

When they came back, Gretel was hugging Hansel gingerly, cautious of his bruises, and sobbing into his shirt. Hansel looked up mouthed for help. Aurora shook her head and phrased her words carefully. "Those are happy and sad tears. Sad because of how you were treated and happy because you did it for her. Sad again, because she didn't want you to go through that for her."

That night, the siblings slept huddled together with Gretel still clutching at Hansel's shirt. Rapunzel looked at Aurora and sighed. "So, what are we going to do with them? And where are we going now? The witch said we'll keep going back to her house."

"Then, we merely have to ride out of the forest."

…..

"We've passed this tree five times." Rapunzel gestured toward said tree.

Aurora groaned. They'd been riding for what seemed like hours, yet no matter what direction they went in, they kept ending up at this tree. Aurora sniffed at the air.

"I have been thinking this for awhile, but does it not smell like gingerbread?" (11)

Hansel and Gretel looked up alarmed. Rapunzel poked Aurora in the back. "Don't scare the kids."

Aurora groaned in exasperation. "I am going to rush in one direction and see where we end up at. Perhaps, we can outrun the enchantment, it must take awhile for it to completely reroute us all the time." She turned around and warned the siblings to hold tight to the sides of the cart and make sure all the belongings were secured. Then, Aurora snapped the reins and they sped forward with a jolt.

…..

Snow White was picking flowers for making a wreath to decorate the cottage.

POP!

Snow White looked around confused at the noise. It sounded like someone broke a very large bubble. Then, a horse came out of nowhere. Snow White shrieked in surprise. Two girls sat on the horse. One of them, tucked her golden hair behind her ears as she spoke.

"This looks like a different forest. And that accursed tree isn't here." Snow White stared at them.

Gretel noticed her first. "Who's the pretty person?" Aurora hurried down from the horse while Rapunzel stared at Snow White then at Aurora, the siblings, then back at Snow White. She voiced her thoughts out loud. "Considering the people I've met, I was thinking that everyone was blond. Dark hair is attractive too." Snow White looked at Rapunzel oddly while Aurora mentally sighed.

Aurora moved towards Snow White. "It appears to be a tad late for greetings. I am Aurora and this Rapunzel, Hansel, and Gretel," she gestured to each one in turn, "It is a pleasure to meet you."

Even more side comments from me (like you aren't sick of them already):

Not religious, I meant the lord that rules over an estate and vassals. I know religion was a huge part of the medieval times, but this is fairy tale land and I can make it however I want- so no religion. I'm atheist.

No, Aurora's not allowed to be so rude as to call someone weird…You realize I'm being sarcastic, right?

Notice how Rapunzel is completely ignoring the part about Aurora having slept a 100 years…what, no one else finds this funny?

I was playing with a candle the other day. Water droplets on a flame make a really loud crackle/pop sound, not really a sizzle.

Seeing as Snow White's not great with flames, I thought I should explain this. There's always a small fire going in the dwarves' fireplace, so she just has to light a piece of kindling from there.

Gretel mispronounces Aurora's name.

Anybody notice that Hansel is very fond of dragons?

Isn't it funny how many ways you can say shocked?

Snow White made apple pie…the rest is self-explainatory.

Rapunzel's seen them in her books. People will include pictures of weapons but not horses because horses are considered common knowledge.

This should sound familiar. Parallel episodes!

So, all the main characters have met each other now. This thing is 11 pages long on Word. That's almost 3 times as long as my first chapter.


	3. Chapter 3

THEA ch.3

**A/N: So, I realized I've been kinda rushing my story plot. Thus, I've resolved to add more fluff bits. The beginning is basically disguised descriptions. I dislike when people devote paragraphs to descriptions to I tried to keep it short in the first chapter. I thought I should clarify as some people might be getting weird ideas about the relationship between Uriah and Snow White. It's a father-daughter relationship. Did I mention this was going to be a romance? (Not between Snow White and Uriah, I have princes lined up for everyone. I pretty much designed the princes to match the girls.)**

"Do all dwarves mine? Exactly what do you mine? Mode of transportation? Trading partners?" Rapunzel leaned forward eagerly. She was interrogating Uriah while sketching him. "Do all dwarves look like you? You seem pretty similar to a middle-aged human man to me. Just more stout, with a larger nose and ears. And the height difference of course. When did your hair start turning white?"

Rapunzel was taller than the dwarf but only by a few inches, she being short and he being taller than most dwarves. Rapunzel penciled in his wrinkles while Uriah posed good-naturedly. "Dwarves have longer life spans, my hair…around 90 years. I'm 127 years old."

Perrault (1), a dwarf sitting in a corner shouted across the room, "You don't look a day over 100!"

Aurora and Snow White sat at a small table near the rest of the dwarves who were drinking some sort of elfin spirit and playing cards.

Snow White slouched into her wooden chair and stretched her arms above her head. Aurora was a bit shocked by her manner. The two were in quite contrasting. Snow White casually bit into an apple (oh, the irony) and pushed her short black bob of hair back.

Her red lips formed a small 'o' as she broke the skin of the equally red apple. Her skin was as white as the inside of the apple. (Okay, enough about apples.)

Aurora's back was ramrod straight as she nibbled at her apple (I just noticed I always use apples as a filler food.) Her ankles were crossed daintily and her long blond hair was pulled into a simple updo, a bit messy from the earlier horse ride.

Her pale pink lips matched the pink of her cheeks. The two of them sat in awkward silence, each groping for a topic but finding none.

That is, until Rapunzel shouted, "Frazzle-snaz! (2) That's awesome (3)!"

Both of them giggled. Snow White started the conversation, "…Interesting travelling companion you got there. How'd you meet?"

"Rapunzel…fell out of a tree near where I was enjoying midday meal. Apparently she has been locked in a tower all her life. She did not recognize a horse."

"Is that so? Where're you heading?"

"We are travelling to the kingdom of Camorra. I have responsibilities for my kingdom. I am trying to undo an old curse."

"Curse? I'm on the run from my step-mother. She wants to kill me."

Aurora made a face. "My, how the world changes. I have never heard of so many murderous villains. First there are Hansel and Gretel's parents who leave them to starve, there was that witch who tried to eat them, and now step-mothers. In my time, we did not have nearly as much violence. My curse was to sleep for 100 years, after which a prince was designated to come along and awaken my kingdom. I am assuming he came, as I am awake, but my kingdom has yet to do the same."

Snow White's eyes widened. "Well…I've been hiding out with the dwarves. I seem to be safe here since nobody has come to try and kill me."

The rest of the evening was spent peacefully until Rapunzel inquired, "Say, Where did Hansel and Gretel go?"

…

Hansel and Gretel were lost. "We've passed this tree five times!" (That's getting old) They had planned on going into the forest for some flowers and mushrooms until they wandered in deeper and deeper. (4) Hansel and Gretel stumbled around in the dark until they spotted a small cottage with a lit window. They hurried toward it, thinking it was the dwarves' home.

Alas, when they reached it, the cottage was empty and the light they had seen was from a single lit candle. Hansel opened the door and motioned for Gretel to go in. Gretel looked back uncertainly. Hansel had one of his rare moments of verbal communication. "I don't think we're going to find our way back in the dark. We might as well stay here for the night."

…..

"There's three of everything! And they're all in a pattern." Gretel pointed to each as she spoke. "One little chair, one median chair, and one big chair. One little bowl, one median bowl and one big bowl. Even the spoons and cups are like this!" She sat in the largest chair. "Too hard," Gretel moved to the middle chair and sank deep into the plushy cushion, "too soft." She plopped into the smallest chair and wiggled around, "Just right!"

Hansel looked at his sister's antics in amusement. He dug through the cabinets looking for food to satisfy his growling belly. He found a loaf of bread and upon inspection, decided to also eat the pudding in the bowls. Hansel grabbed the largest bowl to share with Gretel, so there was still two bowls of pudding left. They split the bread and had the pudding for dessert.

After exploring upstairs, they found three beds. Gretel remarked, "One little bed, one median bed, and one big bed!" They huddled into the biggest bed, liking the luxury of being able to stretch out and roll over without falling off. Tired after their exhausting day, first escaping from the witch, then getting lost, the two dozed off quickly.

….

Daylight slanted in through a window. Hansel shook Gretel awake. She mumbled something about growing pudding fields before finally getting up. They ate the rest of the loaf of bread then headed back to the dwarves' cottage.

….

"Who's been sitting in my chair?" Mama Bear fluffed her seat cushion back to its original state.

Papa Bear roared, "Somebody ate my pudding!"

"And they used my spoon," added Baby Bear.

The Bear family had been out visiting the Beavers, who had recently given birth to another baby. Mama Bear had made pudding, planning on letting it cool before they got back. They inspected the house.

"They didn't take anything other than the pudding and a loaf of bread. I don't think they were thieves." They all went upstairs. Papa Bear grumbled as he fixed his bed coverings. "Eat my pudding, sleep in my bed." Papa Bear snarled in irritation.

Then, there was an energetic knocking at the door.

….

Papa Bear opened the door and roared, "Who is it?" at the two unsuspecting travelers. Hansel and Gretel screamed and tried to hide behind the overflowing bread basket they had brought.

Mama Bear lightly smacked Papa Bear, "Look what you did! Scaring innocent children." Baby Bear peeked around his mother, curious, but clutching Mama Bear's apron.

Mama Bear leaned down to talk to Hansel and Gretel, who were shaking behind a mound of muffins, cookies, bread and other baked goods. "What is it?" Mama Bear's voice was low and soft; Gretel visibly relaxed. Hansel held out the basket in front of him and nudged Gretel, who cleared her throat.

Her voice small, "Um, we brought you some goodies (5) because we stayed and ate at your house yesterday. We're really really sorry. But, um, we were lost and it was really really dark. Please don't eat us."

Papa Bear snorted at that. "We don't eat children! Or humans or dwarves or any moving thing, like most people think."

Gretel shrank back a bit at his harsh tone. "It's just, there was a witch who tried to eat us, and your mouth is really really big, and we don't want to get eaten again, so we try to tell people…um, bears before they try."

Mama Bear directed them back to the important part of the conversation, "Of course we forgive you. How was the pudding?"

Gretel gave her a shy smile, "Really really yummy!" Hansel fiercely nodded in agreement. Mama Bear smiled. "Would you like some more?" More nodding. Baby Bear led them inside, while Papa Bear dug through the bread basket.

"Yes! I love oatmeal raisin cookies!" (6)

…

The sun was about to set. Soon, it would be too dark to get back to the dwarves' home. The girls were getting worried. Actually Aurora was pacing around listing reasons why Hansel and Gretel should be safe then countering herself with a list of dangerous possibilities.

Snow White sat disinterested, braiding Rapunzel's hair into some wacky design, in another attempt to find something she was good at. Aurora turned around to glare at them.

"How can you be so cavalier? They could be hurt, lost, or, or…eaten by now! It was supposed to be a quick 'how do you do? We are incredibly sorry we ate your pudding, goodbye'. They have been gone the entire day!"

That was when Rapunzel spotted something coming over the hill.

"Look." She pointed at the window. Aurora rushed out the door.

A loud shriek came from outside. Everybody rushed outside, the dwarves armed with wooden spoons and stools they'd picked up. They found Hansel and Gretel seated on top of a median-sized bear and Aurora was still frozen in shock at the bear.

The dwarves relaxed. Uriah walked forward. "Baby bear! Where are your parents?"

Hansel and Gretel got off his back as Baby Bear straightened up. "Mama's making dinner. She said to invite everybody. There are herbed potatoes in the fire." The last part was said in a teasing voice; the Bear family knew how much Uriah liked baked potatoes.

Uriah cleared his throat, "Well, we shall partake then!" The other dwarves laughed at him. Rapunzel poked Aurora's arm while Snow White shook her shoulders. Aurora's eyes cleared and her face flushed.

"Well, that was…embarrassing."

Snow White sighed, "It's just a bear." Gretel heard this and remarked loudly, "He's really really friendly and his mom makes really really good pudding!"

Everybody filed over to the Bear family's house and feasted on supper with pudding for dessert.

I thought I should explain why everybody's eating apples all the time. I don't know if you've noticed but apples last a _really_ long time. I figure they should be good travelling food.

The Call of the Wild (you _must_ abbreviate as C.o.W.) was assigned as our next book for English class. Disturbing novel, but I didn't know what to name the dwarf. For some reason French names seem to fit? Also, "Uriah" was taken from Divergent (another mildly disturbing book).

History teacher at my school says stuff like this. I thought it suited Rapunzel.

Awesome, as in, awe inducing. Seriously, the connotations that come with that word…

This happened to me one Halloween. "One more house!" Then, we got lost in the complex interlocking streets that is the neighboring…neighborhood (that was coincidental).

They found the dwarves' cottage, grabbed some treats, and then went back to the Bears' house.

I just had a few. Not my favorite cookie, but it is Papa Bear's. In case you're curious, Mama Bear likes sugar cookies, and Baby Bear likes snicker doodles.

I was planning on having another mini-adventure with Snow White, but couldn't think of a fairy tale that would work. So, you got a Hansel and Gretel side-story. Also, it seems that I've developed a new speech pattern-thing for Gretel. She will be saying 'really really' a lot. That was unintentional, but I decided I liked it, plus it sounds childish, so win-win.

Need this for story that's forming in my head (yes, I'm thinking of my next story on the third chapter of my first): can anybody think of a "normal" sounding shortening of Ludolph? I'd prefer to keep the "Lu-" part of it in the shortening.


	4. Chapter 4

THEA ch.4

**A/N: I reloaded this because fanfic got rid of my time sequence thingys. Agh! Well, now I'm back to strings of periods.**

They spent the next few weeks at the dwarves' place. Those weeks were filled with laughter, fun, posies, rainbows and all sorts of fluffy things.

Hansel and Gretel made regular trips to play with Baby Bear. Rapunzel, Aurora, and Snow White were fast friends; Snow White extremely glad to have female companions again.

…..

Uriah announced the next trip into town. The dwarves instantly began preparing and murmuring various goods they desired. "Some more of that Amaretto liquor, some new axes, we should probably replace that broken pot."

"We're running low on salt and sugar."

"Grab some more dresses for the girlies."

Snow White had been alternating between the gown she had arrived in and a few dresses that the dwarves had found in the attic and dusty closets. Rapunzel and Aurora had both brought clothing with them when they left.

Uriah wrote down the requests onto parchment. He shouted toward the two dwarves in charge of packing trade goods. "I think we should be somewhere along the Abyss River. Make sure to pack the rubies, Lord Cain's new wife is said to have a preference for them.

Aurora gave Snow White a confused look. "You do not know where you are?"

Snow White explained, "Enchanted forest- it likes to walk around. Three or so months ago we were in Monsithe, my kingdom. We were near the borders of Camorra when we picked you guys up."

Rapunzel tilted her head in thought, "Are they speaking of the Abyss River of Camorra? If so, Aurora and I should really be leaving at this stop. The Abyss leads right into the capital city of Camorra, it'd cut down on weeks of travel."

"That's the exact one," said Perrault, who was passing by carrying several boxes.

Aurora and Rapunzel started planning their journey.

Snow White, feeling left out and loathe to let the two of them leave after finally having female friends, suddenly got an idea.

"Why don't I go with you?"

Everyone stopped what they were doing. The dwarves instantly protested, worried about Snow White's safety, Aurora looked delighted, and Rapunzel thoughtfully spaced out.

"What about the queen? You never know where she's sent mercenaries!"

Rapunzel interrupted the loud arguments of the dwarves. "Actually, Camorra would be a pretty ideal place to stay. The queen- your step-mother- is in Monsithe, right?" Snow White nodded, although she had long stopped thinking of Giselle as anything motherly.

"Well, Monsithe is the edge of the eastern side of the land it's on. To the west and north, there's five or so more kingdoms, then a large sea separates them from another piece of land compromised of some kingdoms, of which Camorra is in." All eyes were on Rapunzel as she continued.

"Merchants from Camorra trade across the sea, but they never go any further than the kingdom of Onir, since Onir then sends the products down the Reina River to the other kingdoms. Camorra and Monsithe almost never associate with each other because they're so far apart and produce similar goods."

"Communications between the two kingdoms are incredibly slow. So, Camorra probably knows and cares nothing about any recent news- Snow White's execution orders. And, I don't think Queen Giselle would expect her to be so far away in the amount of time Snow White's been missing."

There was a long silence. Rapunzel looked around. "What? I thought it was sound reasoning."

Aurora surprised, asked, "How do you know all that?"

Rapunzel blew a piece of hair off her forehead. It flew up then settled down in the exact same place. "People in towers can still buy books. Mother would bring me history and geography that I would study. Didn't you learn this stuff? I thought it was common knowledge."

Snow White and Aurora looked at each other. Snow White responded first, "Not much. I was mainly taught how to be polite and look pretty while eating, dancing, blinking, breathing… That type of stuff is usually reserved for king-to-be. Some princes don't even learn it if they're the third brother or lower."

Another silence. Rapunzel brushed the lock of hair away while speaking, "Well, it's sad that the person who has never seen the outside world knows more about it then you guys."

Uriah coughed. "Yes, well, if Snow White wants to leave with them, it seems to be safe enough."

And so, the dwarves and girls left after a tearful parting with Hansel and Gretel. Well, tearful on Gretel's part. Aurora had convinced them to stay with dwarves, who were delighted to have helpers who could actually cook. (Snow White: "Hey!) Some of the dwarves stayed behind to keep the house with the forlorn siblings.

….

Ella tucked a piece of pale hair behind her ear. Two doves fly down from a branch and helped her tie her apron on. "Thank you."

Griselda's head popped out around the corner of the stone house. "Mother wants you hurry your butt over to the kitchen and help Cook prepare dinner." She fluffed her hair. "We have important guests tonight. And keep those dirty creatures away from the food!" Griselda stomped away to pick out a dress.

Ella sighed. "Important guests" meant the prince was coming. That meant another evening of hiding in the shadows, watching her step-sisters flirt with the prince and feeling her heart shatter when he left.

Well, there's no use in yearning for the impossible. Ella straightened her back and began humming her favorite song while heading towards the kitchen. The doves followed, chirping along to her voice.

…

The cart eased down to a stop. The girls stuck their heads around the mass of boxes, "Have we arrived?"

Uriah directed the dwarves that were unloading. "First stop is Lord Cain's manor", he informed. The girls hopped off the back of the cart to stretch and pat the dust off their clothes. After attempting to help the dwarves and getting shooed away, the three of them waited under the shade of a tree.

The tree's trunk was huge and the leaves were a soft silver color. Rapunzel started climbing up the tree, despite protests from Aurora. Inside the thick mass of silver leaves, she found a pair of doves resting on a branch.

Trying not to disturb the doves, Rapunzel stretched for a farther branch and pushed herself toward the tree limb once her foot was in place. Unfortunately the push wasn't enough to swing Rapunzel over and she tumbled out of the tree.

'_Not again…' _This time, Rapunzel managed to land partially on her feet before falling backwards with arms sprawled out, circling to try and keep balance. She fell onto her rear.

Rapunzel looked up to see a surprised girl holding a basket of carrots. "…Hi."

…

A girl covered in leaves and grass was sitting in her garden. Under her mother's tree. Then, another two girls popped around the tree and started exclaiming over the original girl's skinned knee.

Ella switched the basket to her other arm. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

The stunningly gorgeous girl (with shiny black hair that made Ella think of her own hair that needed urgent washing) spoke, "Oh, I'm Snow White, she's Aurora," and gesturing to the girl on the ground, "and that's our tree-loving friend Rapunzel. Nice to meet 'ya."

Ella stood there awkwardly in the following silence, the three girls waiting for her response. "Er, nice to meet you as well. I'm Ella, if I could ask why she just fell out of my tree…?"

Just then, Uriah came around the tree, intending to investigate where the girls had gone, and exclaimed loudly, "Ella! How are you and your father doing? We heard you got a new mother!"

Ella sighed in relief. _'At last, someone I know.'_ "Uriah!" She moved to hug the dwarf.

Snow White, Rapunzel, and Aurora watched the two embrace.

"So…you two know each other?"

…..

After explanations (Lord Cain's manor was a regular stop when the forest happened to be in the area), Ella told everyone to head inside while she dropped off the carrots. The group shuffled into the large manor. The ground was covered in a luxurious purple carpet and portraits of ancestors staring at the group from every wall.

Reaching the sitting room, everyone wandered about waiting for the lord and lady of the house to show up. After a long wait in which no one had showed up, Snow White, short of patience, declared, "Okay, let's do as the name of the room indicates and sit already!"

Just as the girls plopped onto the sofa, Ella came back but now clothed in a stylish pale pink dress covered with frills and ribbons everywhere. She looked quite surprised to see them there.

"Who are you people and what are you doing in my house!"

The girls looked at each confused. Then, another Ella appeared; this one in a fancy pale blue dress decorated with pearls and puffed sleeves, as per the current trend. "Griselda, _what_ are you shrieking about now?"

Rapunzel looked at the two of them, "I think I speak for everyone when I say: why the snazzlefrass are there two 'Ella's?"

Puffy Blue Ella stopped bickering Fluffy Pink Ella to stare at the group. "What do you mean? Neither of us is that ash-covered maid."

A third Ella, dressed as they originally saw her, made her dramatic entrance into the room. "Oh, I see you've all met each other."

The dwarves and the girls were dumbfounded. The three 'Ella's all looked exactly alike, same height, same blond hair with streaks of brown, blue eyes, and slender frame. Their voices all sounded similar as well.

While Puffy Blue Ella and Fluffy Pink Ella started interrogating Ella No.3, a lady with graying hair elegantly coiled into an elaborate bun floated into the room. Her very presence quieted the room.

"Oh my, we have company? Anastasia, Griselda, if you would stop bickering," her request was unneeded, the two had silenced themselves as soon as she entered the room, "and greet our guests."

Turning to the travelers with a gentle smile, the lady spoke with a voice that could make flowers bloom, "Welcome, I am Lady Tremaine. If I could inquire why you have graced my manor with your presence?" The scent of jasmine wafted around the room.

Uriah cleared his throat and shook his head to clear it; his mind was getting filled images of roses and sparkles for some reason.

"You are Lord Cain's new wife? Congratulations on your marriage! We stopped by your manor because we heard you might be interested in purchasing some jewels? Speaking of, where is Lord Cain?"

Lady Tremaine's lovely smile dimmed a moment, "I am sorry to say that my husband passed away two years ago. We had but a year together before he succumbed to illness after a long trading venture during the winter. …However, I would love to take a look at your items."

The dwarves hurriedly displayed their fine cut gems. While the lady looked over their goods; the three 'Ella's explained the confusion about the doppelgangers.

Or more like Ella No. 3 explained things while the other two glared at her, each other, and quickly placed angelic expressions onto their faces whenever their mother happened to glance by.

"These are my step-sisters, Griselda and Anastasia. Lord Cain, my father, married Lady Tremaine, my stepmother, who brought Griselda and Anastasia from a previous marriage."

Anastasia, also known as Puffy Blue Ella, smiled graciously at the group- in complete contrast to her initial expression that seemed to say, "You are merely bugs on my windowpane, annoyances to be gotten rid of." When she spoke, it was now in a melodious tone.

"It would please us all tremendously if you all stayed for dinner. I know you must be very busy with all your trade and you must have plenty of other, much more important stops scheduled before the day is done."

Uriah mouth broadened into a large grin. "If you'll have us, we'd love to stay."

Anastasia opened her mouth as if to refuse but closed it again as her mother shot her a look. Annoyed that her attempt to get them to leave while sticking to her mother's rules had failed, her voice was a bit strained.

"Wonderful. Ella will keep you company until our other guests arrive. We look forward to dinner."

….

Lady Tremaine settled into the ornate chair in front of a vanity table supporting a large mirror. Griselda made a quick move for the golden brush on the table but was beaten by Anastasia, who snatched it away right as Griselda's hand was about to close around the handle.

Griselda pouted and whined, "Mother, isn't it my turn to brush your hair? Anastasia did it last time and I want to brush it! It's so soft and pretty and lovely."

Unaffected by Griselda's attempts to flatter her, Lady Tremaine snapped out, "It doesn't matter who does it, I just want my hair done."

Anastasia smiled triumphantly at Griselda, who shrank back a bit. The lady eyed them both in the mirror as Anastasia rhythmically combed out her hair. "Unfortunately, those uncouth mongrels will be staying for dinner."

Here, Anastasia opened her mouth to defend herself. She was quickly silenced by a sharp glance from her mother. Lady Tremaine continued, "I do not blame you, they were valiant attempts. Regardless, those dirty dwarves will be kept as far away from the prince as possible. Those girls too, that brunette is much too pretty. The prince doesn't need any distractions other than you two."

Griselda snorted and stopped abruptly when her mother's head swiveled around. "What have I said about the snorting? Girlish giggling is fine, none of this pig-like sound!" She turned back to the mirror to apply a layer of rouge.

"Well, I expect you two to play up your charms as always. Goodness knows why that prince hasn't proposed to one of you yet. I've certainly given him enough chances." Anastasia finished her mother's hair with a few pearl pins inserted into the elegant bun. Sounds of horseshoes clip-clopping on the stone pathway came from the open window.

Lady Tremaine smiled at her reflection then coolly regarded her daughters, who instantly snapped to attention. "Now then, we have a prince to entertain."

**A/N: 7 pages on Word, be thankful. I was working on this at midnight when I should've been writing poems for history (yea, I tend to get English assignments in history and history assignments in English). **

**Well, intro of my Cinderella arc, the ball isn't going to happen until the other princes get introduced. **

**If anyone is bothering to read this (btw thanks to everyone who's sent me comments-made my day), I'd like to know if you'd rather have Beast from Beauty and the Beast as a main love interest or a different prince (for Rapunzel). It's pretty important for the next chapter.**

**The step-sisters look like Cinderella to try and make the fairy-tale more realistic, I mean couldn't the prince have just looked at the girl and seen she wasn't the one he danced with?**

**Again, if anyone could think of a modern version of Ludolph?**

**Thanks for reading and if you could please send me a comment?**


	5. Ch 5: In which you meet the princes

THEA ch.5

**A/N: You finally get to meet the princes! I decided to save Beauty and the Beast for a separate story. Shame, that's one of my favorites. **

**It's seems like most of my characters have blond hair and blue eyes, which is annoying since I don't even like blond hair on my characters usually. Curse those cliché fairy tale descriptions. Onto the story. **

Usually when the prince came over, Ella spent her time trying (and miserably failing) not to sneak peeks of him. Today, she found herself pleasantly distracted by the dwarves and her new friends. Ella did keep glancing at the door though. Which the girls quickly realized.

Snow White raised an eyebrow, "Okay, is a dragon going to pop out of that door or something? 'Cause if it is, you should really warn us, Aurora near fainted at the sight of a bear."

"I thought it was attacking Hansel and Gretel! Besides, dragon-riding was a prestigious sporting event in my court; I am completely used to them," protested Aurora.

Rapunzel sighed wistfully, "So lucky~ Because of excessive dragon-hunting, the population has gone down dramatically over the years. They all went into hiding. I really want to meet one."

Snow White directed their attention back to the matter at hand.

"Anyway, Ella, if it's that important, we can let you go for a few moments."

Ella glanced at the small clock on the wall. _'Just one peek. He's leaving soon anyway.'_

"I'll be back in a bit."

The girls waited until they couldn't hear her footsteps.

"So, we are to follow her?" "Oh yeah."

They smiled at each other conspiringly then got up and quickly, but quietly, filed out after Ella.

….

Ella arrived in time to watch her step-sisters flirt with the prince through dessert. She leaned against the upper balcony in the shadows. The sound of high-pitched giggling echoed upstairs. Tidbits of conversation floated up.

'Lady Isabel's party was just fantastic wasn't it? Oh, you didn't go- well; you _must_ attend the next one. The cake was magnificent.'

The girls snuck up behind her and surprised her just before the prince got up to say partings.

Ella let out a loud gasp that made the prince's eyes peer up toward the balcony. Ella quickly ducked further into the shadows. The other girls caught a mere glimpse of the prince- a flash of golden hair followed by the flap of a white coat.

Snow White smiled in a way that thoroughly creeped Ella out. "Sooo~ he's your distraction?"

Ella turned florid. The rustling of paper would have been louder than her response

"…Yes."

Rapunzel stared at her then at the rest of the group. "So…Ella's infatuated with that guy?"

At the blunt statement, Ella took a few steps back. They all looked to her for a response.

"My…first love, I don't even know if I still like him or if I'm stalking him out of habit."

Aurora clapped her hands together once. "Well, maybe if you were to converse with him—"

Ella firmly said, "Not a chance. My step-mother won't allow it. She's planning on one of having one of my step-sisters marry him. I don't want hear another word about it tonight. It's just a foolish little crush of mine."

The group settled into silence as they walked back to the room where they had been eating dinner. The dwarves were waiting for them. Uriah motioned for everyone to stand up.

"Well, I think we need to get some lodgings prepared, we spent much longer here than expected. Are there any inns nearby?"

Ella gave them directions to the closest inn. They soon departed with promises to meet again tomorrow.

….

Landon was stared at ceiling, waiting. A long yawn filled his mouth. He tossed his head, trying to get the bangs out of his eyes. A loud chorus of dreamy sighs filled the air. They came from his current entourage- a large gaggle (yes, the relation to geese was intended) of girls surrounded him.

All of them were decently pretty and had been sent here by their parents to catch his eye. He yawned again. They batted their eyelashes and pouted their little hearts out, babbling about whatever nonsense they usually said.

Typically, he'd flash a charming smile and be on his way or maybe stay and flirt a bit. But, not today, he had an appointment and so, he sat and waited.

There was a loud crash and in stumbled the knight's armor that _had_ been sitting outside the room as decoration. The suit lifted the visor of the helmet, revealing a familiar face, and raised the ornate sword in his hand.

"My dear princess, I have come to save you! We must hurry away or else the witch's evil squirrels shall catch us!"

Landon smiled and a few girls near him went weak in the knees. "Well ladies, I must go now," he declared. And with great relief, strode out the door. The suit of armor quickly followed leaving behind many confused maidens.

…

"You just have to make a grand entrance, don't you Theo?" Landon smirked.

"Do you know any legendary heroes that went to battle quietly? I'm quite miffed that there wasn't a dragon for me to battle." Theo tried to keep an affronted air, but his smile threw off the facade.

Landon smacked Theo on the head as soon as he removed the helmet.

"What was that for?"

"Calling me a princess. I'm glad you came though."

Theo rubbed the back of his head. "Does your mother really think leaving you in room full of vapid girls will make you want a wife?"

"I often question her methods myself. Enough of this, we are to meet with Donovan?"

"We will- as soon as I get out of this metal contraption." Theo struggled with the metal chest protector.

"How the Grimm, did you get _into_ it? I thought it was magically cemented to the wall."

"It was."

Landon grinned.

…

Rapunzel stared at the pair walking through the town square. As did most of the people in the square for various reasons. Most of the girls were giggling and whispering over the blonde one. He had golden hair, handsome looks, and pale blue eyes. All he was missing was a sunset backdrop and a white horse.

The girls were accompanying Ella on her shopping trip.

….

[flashback time] Snow White frowned. "Why are you treated like a servant in your own house?"

Ella sighed. "Since my father's death, it's been like this. My step-mother hates me because…it's a long story. It's okay, I don't mind."

Aurora argued, "But, it is not fair that your step-sisters can laze around the house while you—"

"Enough. I don't want to upset the only family I have left. Plus, I never liked doing nothing but look at pretty dresses. When I was little, I was a serious tomboy. When I wasn't outside, I was in the kitchen with my mother and Cook. My mother had always liked baking with Cook."

Aurora was quick to distract Ella from this topic. They chatted along the way to the bakery.

[end flashback]

…..

The pair was very eye-catching.

Girls passing by followed the golden-haired boy's relaxed stride with predatory eyes. He laughed at something his companion said and the air around him seemed to sparkle even more than before. Speaking of which, his companion was very conspicuous, but for different reasons.

Clad in shiny metal knight's suit, he seemed completely comfortable with curious stares from the townspeople. He had light brown hair that curled slightly at the ends. The unusual arrangement of his eyebrows combined with his upturned nose and perpetual grin made him look like a mischievous kid who got away with the whole cookie jar.

The two turned their attention in the direction the girls were at. Snow White was also getting a fair bit of attention from the surrounding people. The baker's boy was staring longingly at her and several girls were shooting daggers at Snow White as their beaus ignored them to ogle Snow White.

The odd pair made their way over to girls and the blond boy, who looked even handsomer up close, smiled dashingly at Snow White and dramatically proclaimed, "Hey."

Snow White regarded him coolly. Then she instantly turned her attention back to Aurora, who was openly staring at the blond boy with a slight dazed look as a light pink blush bloomed across her face.

Persistent, the blond boy continued, "I'm Landon", he gestured to his friend in the knight's armor, "and this is my knight in shining armor, Theo."

He was interrupted by Theo who chirped, "Who just rescued him, the fair damsel, from the evil clutches of—"

Theo was then interrupted back by Landon, "Pay him no mind. If I could have your names?"

Aurora introduced the group since Snow White seemed insistent on ignoring the boy and Rapunzel was still staring curiously but silently at the pair.

Snow White finally spoke but very obviously directed her question at Theo.

"So, why are you in a knight's suit?"

Theo began speaking, but was cut off by Landon, who was determined to get Snow White's attention.

"He wanted to be properly attired when he rescued me and couldn't get the thing off afterwards." Aurora giggled.

Rapunzel popped a question. "Why are you so sparkly?"

Everyone stared at her oddly for a moment. Landon answered, "I didn't realize I was. Perhaps you're seeing things, I'm told to have that effect on people."

Snow White scoffed then spit out, "Oh really."

Landon's charming grin broadened into a full-blown smirk. "Most girls I've met have told me this." Snow White's eyes spit fire at him.

"Um, any idea why Theo's armor is all sparkly then?" All eyes turned back to Rapunzel.

Theo looked over at Landon. "Leftover magical residue from the spell?"

"No, that type of magic doesn't leave a sparkly look. The sun?"

"We're in shade right now," Snow White helpfully pointed out.

Rapunzel considered all the information then announced, "I think I can see magic." This sentence was followed by some gawking from the others.

Rapunzel, speaking more to the girls then the pair, "Well, I remember the witch's house looked kinda glittery, and the gingerbread had been held together by magic."

Landon whispered to Theo, "Gingerbread?" Theo shrugged.

"Plus, Mother had a lot of magical items that shimmered. I just didn't realize it at the time. By the way, I think if you take off the left leg first then the right glove, you should be able to take off the suit."

Theo did so and right after he removed the right glove and the shoulder pieces, the entire armor suit collapsed around him. He raised an eyebrow at Rapunzel.

"That was where there was the most of this grayish shimmery air." Rapunzel gesticulated her response with some flickering of her fingers to show the shimmering-ness.

Theo nodded, "There was a binding enchantment on the suit. This," he gestured toward the mess of metal on the ground, "was attached to his house's walls." Theo pointed at Landon to indicate whose house.

Snow White inquired, "So why is Landon sparkly then?"

Theo snickered, "This guy's handsome looks are just from a fairy blessing at his christening ceremony. He also has a charm that would make him desirable to any person he meets."

Snow White smirked at Landon, who crossed his arms while retorting, "Well, what about you? It must've taken a whole league of fairies to get that beautiful."

If Snow White noticed the accidental compliment, she didn't show it. "Oh, I'm naturally gorgeous." Lightning seemed to strike between the two as they glared at each other.

Ella chose that tense moment to come back with the bread. Her head was bent over the shopping list. "Okay, I got the bread. Now we just need…" Ella's voice trailed away as she saw who the girls were talking to. "Prince Landon! Oh, um, greetings, your majesty." She stumbled over the words.

Rapunzel, mildly interested, remarked, "Oh, so you're a prince." She turned toward Theo. "You?"

He shook his head, "Nah, I have the thankless job of the prince's official companion-slash-personal assistant. I get him to places on time, order his servants around for him, taste the desserts specially prepared for just to 'make sure there's not any poison'," here he winked, "it's a grueling job." Landon elbowed Theo.

Aurora suddenly got very excited upon remembering a certain conversation from yesterday. "Is he your…?" Ella blushed furiously.

"No, no, no! Prince Landon isn't…He is most definitely not…" Her voice trailed off again at Landon's amused looks.

"Hmm~ I'm not what?"

Ella's face turned completely red then white and she ran off quickly into the crowd. Snow White moved to go after her.

"Ella!"

Aurora and Rapunzel started chasing after Ella while Snow White turned back to shoot Landon a death glare. Then, she ran off as well.

Theo coughed loudly. "Well…that didn't go as well as planned." Landon sighed.

…..

"What was that all about?"

Ella sighed remorsefully. "I'm sorry; it's kind of a sensitive point for me. I can't believe I was so rude to a prince! I'll need to apologize the next time I see him."

"Don't bother. He seems like a jerk," Snow White cheerfully added.

"I thought he was rather pleasant," Aurora protested. Snow White scowled.

"You and every other lash-fluttering girl in the general vicinity. Hmm? You were giggling very cutely." Aurora was taken aback. Ella had a surprised look on her face. Snow White suddenly smiled painfully.

"I'm sorry. I have a thing against handsome arrogant men who think they can do whatever they want just 'cause…There have been a lot of those in my past." She threw her hands up.

"And they all think they can claim me because they're rich and why the Grimm wouldn't I want to marry such a respectable man. I shouldn't worry my pretty little head over such complicated things. I'm sure I'll come to like him after some time." Most of her rant was obviously someone else's words.

Snow White stopped in her monologue. "So, err…sorry about calling you a ditz."

Aurora rolled her eyes. This made Rapunzel and Ella stare at her in wonder.

"Did she just…?"

"I can't believe Aurora just…" Aurora grinned at their shock. "Let us turn back already? It is getting quite late."

…**..**

**A/N: Woo, another 7 pages. That's two (kinda three, Ella's prince wasn't really introduced) of the 4 planned princes. Just to clarify—Landon is not Ella's love.**

**You get to officially meet the last two princes next chapter…I think. Unless I do background stories next. Hmm.**

**I know Rapunzel's sudden ability was kind of random. I'd been trying to put in foreshadowing. It's [not really] important for a later thing.**


	6. Chapter 6 Backstory Time!

THEA ch.6

**A/N: I said I would be giving the next two princes or backstories. You get backstories because I think it's better for you to read this before what's planned for the next part (who am I kidding, **_**plans?**_** I'm making this up as I go.) Oh, and have you noticed yet, I like to make people meet after one of them falls out of a tree? I think that'll be a running gag in this story. **

Lady Tremaine:

"Elaine, Hurry up!" Calvin's voice rang against her ears.

"I'm going as fast as I can in these doubly-cursed skirts!" Calvin had been Elaine's best friend since they were introduced at a party at the age of ten. They had found out they both liked being outdoors, Elaine didn't mind looking at Calvin's bug collection and Calvin willingly pretended that yes, Mr. Puffers, Elaine's stuffed elephant toy, was indeed real and was insulted when you talked about him like that. It was a match made in heaven. That was 8 years ago.

"Then, get a pair of pants!"

"You just told a well-mannered lady to wear such indecent clothing? Shocking, how the society would rage."

Calvin smirked from up on his perch at a higher branch. "I think we both know that you're just a boy in a girl's disguise, Tremi." Elaine finally managed to climb up to his branch- not without creating several snags in her dress that would make the maid wring her hands- then smacked his arm hard.

"Ow!" Elaine smiled sweetly at him.

"I told you not to call me that! Grandmother has always had peculiar taste. Thank Grimm, Mother knew to give me a decent middle name. It's a horrid name, Tremaine. It makes me feel like a forty-something spinster. "

"Well, you're well on your way to spinsterhood—" He was interrupted by another smack from Elaine. "No, but seriously have you considered my business proposition yet? I think we would make a good pair."

…..

[commence flashback]

Calvin had proposed a week ago- of sorts. It really was more of a business proposition.

"You know that girl that my parents set up for my fiancée? She's awful! She took one look at me then sneered, 'oh, I'm sorry. I thought you were the butler.' And I bothered to wear a tie for her! Then I showed her my workroom and she started ordering my servants to clear out all the 'useless junk' like she was already my wife of 10 years!"

Calvin had a bit of inventor's bug. He was planning on taking over his father's business, but still made things as a hobby.

"And your point is?"

"I am not marrying…what was her name Paige? Penelope? Something with a P. I got to thinking what if I married you?"

Elaine's mouth dropped open. "W-what? I-I'm sorry but I just don't feel that way about you and your way of proposing was awful, so…"

Calvin burst out laughing. "I don't feel like that about you either! I meant for convenience. You wouldn't annoy me and I would let you prance around in forests as much as you want. In fact, I'd probably be with you scaring innocent squirrels."

Elaine let out a sigh of relief. Calvin pouted, "Is the idea of me loving you that sickening?"

"Yes!" More laughter from Calvin.

"What makes you sure I'd enjoy being your wife? I'd been hoping to marry for love not convenience."

Calvin gave her a little smile. "Well, think about it alright? It seems like your sister is taking away all your possible suitors anyway."

[end]

…

Elaine leaned against the tree trunk. "I don't know…what if I end up finding someone I like after we get married? What if _you_ find someone you like after we married?"

Calvin made a face. "Trust me, I'm not interested in women at all. My mother is worried enough about for me.

Elaine gaped at him, greatly resembling a fish. "I…I've heard about men who like their own kind but I didn't know you—"

"No, no, no, not like that! I'm just not interested in love in general."

Elaine laughed at his panic. Calvin ran a hand through his hair, messing it up even more.

"If anyone's going to fall for someone, it'll be you—which of us is always reading those romantic novels?"

Elaine protested, "That's my sister! You know you enjoy the same adventure novels I do."

"Ah yes, Rena and her swoon-worthy knights. How could I ever forget? Anyways, don't worry about it. I'll only blackmail you into marrying me with embarrassing stories after my mother starts discussing baby names with Paignelope."

Elaine laughed. She and Calvin got up to climb down, but Elaine lost her footing. The last thing she saw was Calvin hand closing around empty air.

That is until something brown broke her fall. Elaine landed with a screech.

'_Gah! It's a person! In a brown suit…I'm sitting on him!' _Elaine started apologizing profusely.

"It's alright. You just woke me from my daydreaming. I thought an angel had fallen from the sky."

Elaine felt her face heat up. _'Wait, I'm blushing? And what's with those lines—they sound like something out of my sister's romance novels.' _She tilted her head up to look at him. He didn't look much older than her. Brown hair, glasses, and green eyes that made her chest feel odd. He had a scholarly feel about him.

"I'm sorry but would you mind getting off me? My leg is going numb."

Elaine startled and hurriedly scrambled off. "I'm sorry!"

The boy was chuckling. "It's fine. Benedict Cain, if I may have your name?"

"Tremaine Elaine Lireth, please call me Elaine."

Calvin swung down from the tree branch. He spoke while absentmindedly brushing leaves and twigs from his hair and clothes.

"Elaine, you okay? Oh, Benedict! What are you doing here?"

Elaine looked at Calvin then at Benedict then back at Calvin. "You two know each other?"

Calvin went over to shake hands with Benedict. "His father is an investor in my father's company. Always comes along to the formal parties."

Well, that explains why she didn't know him. Elaine never attended those balls if possible. She wasn't eager to spend an evening surrounded by stuffy men in too-tight collars and girls with smirks and politely distant smiles plastered on their face.

Benedict appraised the two, taking in their messy appearance. Elaine suddenly felt very self-conscious and swiped at muddy sections of her skirt.

"Is she your sister?"

The two in question glanced at each other. "Where did you get that idea—we look nothing like each other."

Calvin had caramel colored hair, deep brown eyes with a strong chin. Elaine was blond, blue-eyed, with a small upturned nose.

"Then, might she be that fiancée you were talking about?"

"No!" "Oh, Tremi, you wound me with your blatant refusal."

Elaine elbowed Calvin in the ribs. Benedict was staring at the two with a bemused expression. "Then what are two unmarried young people doing in an isolated tree together?"

"I was informing her of her approaching spinsterhood—"

Calvin was interrupted by Elaine punching his arm, "And I was hitting him. Not really the type of thing lovers do."

Benedict suddenly laughed. "I…think I quite like you, Miss Elaine Lireth. "

He glanced at his pocket watch, "Oh, I must be going now! I hope we all meet again." And he rushed out of the forest.

Elaine watched his back disappear behind the trees. "What a weird fellow."

Calvin shrugged and they both walked back to the Lireth household.

The house was in a bustle. Servants dashed all over the place. Elaine's mother stood in the middle of it all, directing maids on decoration and sending errand-boys with messages.

"What happened? Is the king coming over or something?"

Rena glanced up from the love seat chair. She was, as usual, dressed impeccably in a purple evening gown, hair perfectly coiffed, back ramrod-straight as she sat with her ankles crossed. A small book lay across her lap. Rena brushed back a lock of blond hair—the exact same color as Elaine's—as she responded.

"Remember how father suddenly decided to host a ball tonight? Mother's been in a frenzy since last week. This is the most last-minute party I have ever heard of."

Then, Rena noticed Elaine's torn and muddied clothing. She started shoving Elaine up the large linderwood staircase to her room.

"What happened to you? Get in a tussle with a swamp?"

"No, I fell out of a tree."

"Well, you must now subject yourself to your loving sister's beauty treatment."

Elaine groaned. Calvin grinned conspiringly at Rena and they both forcibly dragged Elaine up the stairs. Upon reaching the two sisters' shared bedroom, Rena locked Calvin out while stripping Elaine of her dirty outfit.

"You know, it's really odd how you two are doubles of each other while having such different personalities", Calvin remarked from outside the room.

Elaine spoke up from the bathtub Rena had the servants prepare knowing the condition Elaine would come home in.

"I figure there was only so much of every quality. Rena, being the elder by 2 minutes, stole all the grace, poise, and charm. Just today she received two bouquets of roses, which are horribly oversent—our entire house reeks of them. I used to like those flowers until Rena turned fifteen and we started receiving them on regular basis. My current favorite flower is…lilies. Edmund, that boy with the obsession with clocks and Rena, sent some over the other day-"

She was then cut short by Rena ducking her head under water.

"Scrub the dirt out of your hair."

Elaine obediently began lathering soap onto her head. Rena fumbled around in Elaine's wardrobe and was rewarded with an only slightly wrinkled light blue dress that matched her eyes.

"Ooh, this would look good on you."

Elaine looked at her sister. "You mean, you know that color would compliment you perfectly, so I must look good in too."

Calvin added a voice to the conversation as well. "Well you two do look exactly alike. Identical twins and all that."

The only differences between the two sisters' appearances was that Elaine's hair was a touch lighter than Rena's from being outside all the time and her skin a smidgeon darker. Nearly everything else from eye color to nose shape to secret birthmark on left buttock was the same.

Elaine finished her bath and allowed Rena to play doll with her. Calvin had left to inform his family of the upcoming ball.

"A twist? No, that doesn't really suit you…ooh, how about that braided bun I saw on Janet the other day…a half-up do would go well with that dress…"

Eventually, Rena settled upon an elegant-but-still-very-Elaine look. Sparkly accessories were placed just so and shimmery lotion applied but Elaine drew the line at the powder make-up.

A servant came to announce the party had begun. Rena touched up her own appearance and the two of them descended the staircase.

Murmurs sounded as people caught sight of the two. Rena always drew people's attention.

"She's so lovely and so skilled at singing." "Did you hear her tutor is taking new students?"

"Oh, I must find out where she got that dress!" "She rejected Sir Peregine's invite to the family vacation trip!"

But this time Elaine also got a fair amount of backward glances herself.

"Oh my, the other sister can dress up too." "Well she is of Lireth lineage—of course she turns out to be a beauty." "That hairstyle she has on is gorgeous."

The ball was being held in the golden dancing hall. One side of the room was filled with a table of trays of food and beverages. Quail eggs and little sandwiches displayed proudly made Elaine's stomach complain of its emptiness.

Some couples were already out on the floor dancing to the notes of the hired musicians. The sky had already darkened but the room was lit with lamps and floating fairy lights.

Rena went off to talk with friends. Elaine hurriedly scanned the gathered crowd for Calvin but instead found another familiar face…

"Sir Benedict…!"

"Miss Elaine! Pleasure to see you again. That was much faster than I was expecting though…this is your house?"

"Ah, yes…have you seen Calvin?"

"Afraid not. Disappointed with only me as your conversation partner?"

Elaine shook her head and laughed at his raised eyebrows.

"Of course not." They walked toward the back of the large circular room. The two searched for a topic.

"That's a stunning dress. Quite the shock to see my fallen angel in heavenly garb after meeting the mud-stained version."

"Well don't get used to it, you're much more likely to see the other. This," Elaine gestured toward her entire self, "was the product of my sister's magical powers. She also offers to turn over-eager suitors into frogs, but it's hush that she's a witch in training."

She held one finger over her mouth indicating the great secrecy of it all. Benedict chuckled. They spent a good portion of the evening chattering over books they liked ("I think reading Delawen's _Winter Speculations_ are the most entertaining way to spend the evening"), the food ("Cook's stuffed mushrooms are divine but stay away from the vanilla pudding if you value your life."), and whatever came into their head until Calvin finally showed up.

"Rena, have you seen Elaine…! Whoa—is that you Tremi! You look like a society girl! That dress does look smashing on you."

Elaine pouted in mock annoyance at Calvin.

"Why do people always comment about the clothing first? Thank you, I know I look surprisingly beautiful-let us move on with life."

Calvin, Elaine, and Benedict went through the pillars that lead to the garden wandered away. Various fairy lights randomly floating about and the moon lit the way. Strains of the string quartet inside could be heard.

They were all silent while walking amongst the rosebushes and hazelnut trees. The sounds of barking came from somewhere behind the group. Elaine turned around to find the source but the noise makers came running forward and darted in front of the group.

It turned out to be a dog chasing a squirrel. The squirrel nimbly jumped over Elaine's foot into the bushes on the other side, but the dog was much larger and nearly would've rammed her into the ground if Elaine hadn't hopped out of the way in time.

Her foot caught the gown's skirts and Elaine felt herself falling backward. She hit something solid and warm. Elaine glanced up. Looking back at her were Benedict's eyes. He was holding her shoulders to keep her balanced and the warmth of his hands soaked in through her thin shawl.

It felt very comfortable. There were flecks of brown in the green. Elaine found herself distracted by the color framed by silver rimmed glasses.

Calvin coughed. "If you two are done gazing into each other's eyes…?"

Benedict and Elaine quickly separated from each other with slightly reddened faces.

"Ah, I think that was one of my father's hound dogs. He takes them with him when he goes hunting."

Calvin smirked, "Yes, yes, _that_ was what we were all interested in. Anyways~ when did you two get so friendly?"

Elaine elbowed him. The three of them slowly walked along the garden, Elaine wary of any squirrels. Eventually they circled back to the ballroom, where the party was still going strong. Blinking against the sudden lights, Elaine was surprised to see Rena fluttering her eyelashes at some auburn gentleman, who was delighted at the attention. Rena was a bit wobbly on her feet and tilted towards the boy.

Elaine rushed forward to help her sister. Rena leaned over then whispered in Elaine's ear.

"I think I'm in love~"

Elaine held her by the shoulders and shook Rena.

"Who are you and what have you done with my sister!"

Rena giggled and hiccupped letting Elaine get a whiff of something sweet on her breath. Calvin stood next to Elaine, judging whether this really was Rena or some ingenius puppet.

"Have you…been drinking spirits?"

Rena giggled again then twirled in a circle.

"Of course not! I just had a lot of that yummy pink juice Cook prepared! It tastes like pure rainbows!"

Then Rena collapsed into Calvin's arms. Elaine went off in search of Cook while Calvin looked hopelessly at Benedict.

After a few moments, Elaine returned with news. "Cook had a mild alcohol-based flavoring potion in there. Surprisingly, one of the ingredients is essence of rainbow."

The auburn gentleman spoke, "So, she was just intoxicated?"

Elaine finally noticed the boy. "Sir Edmund! Yes, I'm sorry. Oh, those were some lovely flowers you sent the other day. Very fragrant."

"I bred them myself. Tried crossing it with a pond lily. I'm working on a rose-blossom right now."

Elaine smiled, "Really? Would you mind if I came to see?"

Edmund nodded shyly, "With your sister…? Maybe..?"

Elaine's smile dimmed noticeably. "Perhaps. I'll ask her when she wakes up."

Benedict noted this with interest. Elaine glanced about the room. Most of the guests were still enjoying themselves. She turned to Calvin and Benedict.

"I think the two of us", she pointed to Rena, "will be turning in early tonight. Calvin, carry Rena upstairs. Sorry for the abruptness but goodnight Sir Benedict. Sir Edmund."

And with that Elaine turned on her heel and marched towards her room. Calvin followed as fast as he could while pushing the crowd of people inquiring about Rena.

Edmund addressed Benedict. "Those sisters…are very unique." Edmund's eyes watched Rena's figure adoringly.

"Why yes, yes there are." Benedict cast one last look at Elaine, who was directing Calvin, before exiting the party.

**A/N: Wow, a little over 8 pages on Word and I've barely gotten into this story yet. Well in case anyone's confused: Lady Tremaine, Ella's step-mother, is Elaine. I'm trying to give reason to her bitterness. Expect this to run over the next few chapters.**


	7. Chapter 7: coincidences and cake

THEA ch.7

**A/N: ah, so continuing the side story…first time writing romance, and am having great difficulty coming up with romantic development. Oh, by the way, all histories, authors, and book titles are made up. Poem was modified from something online. Sorry for the large time gap between chapters, the plot-bunnies rejected my humble offering of carrots.**

"Rena, hurry up and get your rear down here!"

Elaine's mother gave her a stern a look.

"Sister Dear, if you would be so kind as to quicken your pace so that we may depart soon…!"

Her father chuckled from the old linderwood rocking chair in which he was reading the newspaper. Elaine clenched a slip of paper in her hand while bouncing around excitedly. The parchment was a message from the local bookshop owner notifying Elaine that the next installment of a favorite series of hers had arrived.

Rena finally descended the stairs in a splendid pink gown with her hair carefully curled. Elaine brushed her own simple braid over the shoulder of her pale green gown and pushed Rena forward.

"Let us leave soon..!"

Rena sped up reluctantly, "Elaine, the bookshop is not going to disappear."

"You never know, perhaps a gang of trolls will come and trash the place or a wind storm sweeps the whole place out or—"

The sisters' mother hushed Elaine and the family climbed into the awaiting carriage.

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Elaine rushed out of the vehicle as soon as the manservant opened the door. He had to jump out of the way so that she didn't run him over. A small bell rang as Elaine stepped into the bookstore and headed over to the counter.

"Afternoon Sir Draxley!"

The bookshop owner peered over the top of his glasses.

"Ah, Miss Lireth, here for your book?" In response, Elaine shook her order form eagerly.

"Just a moment while I get that for you."

Draxley shuffled to the back of the store. Left to her own devices, Elaine wandered around the shelves looking for other items she might want. Spotting an interesting-looking book she couldn't quite reach, Elaine hopped trying to grab the book. A hand took the book out and handed it to her but let go before she had grabbed it.

The book dropped to the floor. Elaine bent down to pick it up but bonked heads with the mystery person who apparently had had the same notion. Rubbing her head, Elaine looked up to see who it was and found Benedict also gingerly tending to his head.

"Sir Benedict!"

He grinned at her. "Miss Elaine, you have quite the hard cap. I could have sworn I had hit a boulder."

Benedict ignored her slight glare and picked the book up from the ground.

"Red Clouds, astronomy is it?"

Elaine's smile returned. "Yes, I love staring at the sky. There are some lovely clouds out today."

She craned her neck to look at his titles. There was a history on Lindora, a book on dragon-riding, and a book of poetry.

"You read poetry? Well, I shouldn't be surprised; it does seem like your type of thing."

Benedict cocked his head to the side, a look of puzzlement on his face. "Really now? I never thought so."

"Says the person who deemed me an angel upon first sight."

"Ah, a backlight from the sun made it appear as though you had a halo. Reminds me of…

I met someone somewhere out there,  
>One angel, with eyes that dare,<br>I saw her sent from the sky,  
>Gazing into blue eyes when we first met,<br>I knew then, she was heaven-sent  
>She with no idea of what be paradise and what inferno holds"<p>

Elaine stared at him. "That was…one of the more flowery things I've ever heard. And considering the amount of love letters that come to our house…"

"A shout came from the front of the shop. "Miss Lireth—I have your book!"

Elaine clapped her hands together in glee and bounded toward the counter. Benedict followed after her. When he reached the place, Elaine had already purchased her book. The owner also rang up Benedict's items. A bell tinkled-signifying someone entering the store-and Rena appeared.

"Elaine, what's taking so long…oh, hello."

Rena stared at Benedict, her gaze shifting between Elaine, Benedict, then back at Elaine. Benedict gave her a small bow.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Benedict Cain. I believe I met you the other night but you seemed to be a bit…inebriated at the time."

Rena flushed red and rushed Elaine out of the store. Elaine quickly waved good-bye, as her sister dragged her by the arm, to Benedict and the sisters disappeared into the carriage.

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The trip to the bookstore was more of a detour on the Lireth family's ride to the tailor's. A distant relative of theirs wanted Rena and Elaine to join the league of bridesmaids for an upcoming wedding. The two had to be fitted for the matching dresses the eager bride had sent over. Elaine was flipping through her novel excitedly. The carriage came to a sudden halt.

"Into the shop now, we have an appointment to keep," Elaine's mother warned.

The family filed into the tailor's front display room. Soon after, a stern-looking girl quickly led into the back dressing rooms. An assistant pulled out two frilly white gowns out of a large wad of purple packaging paper. Rena cooed over the clothing.

"These ribbons are made of Camorran silk!"

Rena ran her fingers over the fabric adoringly. Elaine was still absorbed in her book. The assistant slipped the gowns over their heads and got to work adjusting hem and sleeve lengths. Finishing off the quick adjustments, the tailor had the sisters go back into the front room.

Where they bumped into Benedict. Literally. Elaine teetered precariously forward, eyes glued to the pages. Her foot managed trip over a stool, paper went flying, and she was caught by Benedict just before meeting the doom of the hitting the wooden floor. Benedict righted her, hands lingering a bit longer than necessary…or maybe that was just her imagination.

"Hello again, Miss Elaine."

Elaine blew some hair out of her face. Her face a bit flushed from the near fall.

"Sir Benedict…thank you for catching me. Is this the second time we've met today? One of us must be following the other, and I am fairly certain it's not me."

Benedict shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm here to get a tear in one of my suits fixed."

He noticed the rest of Elaine's family watching with interest and impatience.

"It was pleasant seeing you once more; I leave you to your plans."

Benedict waved her goodbye.

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"Who was that polite young man, Elaine?"

"Mother…!" An interrogative stare quenched any thoughts of resistance.

"Benedict Cain—Calvin also knows him."

Her mother gave her an appraising look and smiled mischievously.

"He seems quite interested in you…you may get married before your sister yet. I approve of this one, he has charming look to him."

Elaine's father looked alarmed at the last bit.

"Mother…" Elaine's exasperation was almost tangible. Rena giggled.

"I don't hear you denying it~"

"Rena, sister dear, do you realize how very irritating that sing-songy tone can be at times?"

"Hmm, I wonder. Now stop avoiding the subject."

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"STOP!"

Rena's sudden screech was instantly complied with, if only out of alarm. The driver glanced back questioningly.

"That bakery," there was some pointing of fingers, "has the best cream puffs I have ever had in my entire existence. I must have some."

Elaine's head bobbed furiously in agreement. "Ooh, and those tuile cookies…and the apple tarts."

Two figures departed from the carriage into the bakery store. The smell of fresh bread drifted around lazily and several workers were rushing around grabbing items for customers. A long line was forming. Rena and Elaine filed in while discussing possible cakes to purchase.

"Strawberry with the whipped cream."

"Chocolate with chocolate ganache."

"Chocolate with cherry cream?"

"I demand strawberries. I think they have chocolate covered strawberries…"

A third voice interrupted the debate. "Personally, I prefer the vanilla cake with lemon curd."

Elaine spun around, her braid smacking the person in the face.

"Sir Benedict! That's the third time you've shown up today!"

He rubbed his cheek. "…And that's the second time you have injured me today. Ah, but to have so many coincidences is truly surprising. As they say, three coincidences make fate."

"I've never heard of that."

Rena poked Elaine and smirked. Elaine's face paled as she realized the horrors that were about to proceed. Rena began in a familiar sing-song voice.

"So~ Sir Benedict, it seems you are very well-acquainted with my darling twin sister. What do you think of her?"

Benedict blushed while blinking rapidly for a moment.

"Miss Elaine is…very energetic and interesting."

Elaine shoved Rena forward as the line shifted to undermine any further attempts at matchmaking.

"What do you know, it's our turn!"

The three purchased their various pastries and left the store together. Just before exiting, Rena attacked in a rushed voice.

"Sir Benedict, our family would be _ever _so happy to have come to our house for tea and cakes later. So that we may all get to know each other."

Benedict agreed hesitantly, catching the dangerous gleam in Rena's eye. Elaine ushered Rena back to the carriage. Rena sat down triumphantly.

"I arranged for Sir Benedict to come to the manor later. We will begin the interrogation to see whether or not, he is suited for Elaine."

Their mother smiled, delighted. Elaine and her father had equal looks of horror.

.

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The meeting went well. Elaine's parents loved Benedict. While Calvin and Elaine spent every summer constantly together, this year, Benedict joined them as well. Elaine found herself blushing at inopportune moments and her heart beat at irregular patterns when she was around a certain bespectacled boy. The two often glanced at each other at the same time and quickly turned away, much to the amusement of Calvin.

Rena and Elaine attended that distant relative's wedding. They climbed trees and splashed around in the river. The four spent several afternoons reading under the shade of a tree. All was peaceful.

Summer ended and as fall approached, Elaine came down with a long illness, for which the only remedy was rest and hearty food. She was not allowed outside, and rarely allowed to leave her bed.

Elaine despised the restrictions. Her only solaces were reading and visits. Calvin and Benedict visited almost every day. But as the days grew shorter and colder, Benedict's appearances lessened in frequency and length. Somewhere along the way, it seemed that Rena was constantly pulling him away to do something, anything.

Elaine only realized that she loved Benedict after he started drifting from her. She watched Rena and Benedict laugh together from her window.

'_Another one lost to Rena's charm, I suppose.' _

Writing it off as inevitable, Elaine tried to hold off the feelings of envy. Spring arrived again and so did her health. And a shocking piece of news.

"You're engaged!"

Rena waved her left hand, where a golden ring sparkled. A rosy glow lit up her face.

"He proposed to me two days ago…it was so sweet. I never knew Ben could be so romantic."

Elaine felt as though part of heart was crushed. But, she smiled and oohed appreciatively at wedding gown designs. She kept a constant cheery air around her whenever someone other than Calvin approached.

Rena's wedding day snuck up on Elaine. It was glorious late-spring/pre-summer day. Beautiful blue sky with a few soft clouds floating by lazily; the weather only worsened her mood. Calvin tried unsuccessfully to cheer her up.

"Tremi…come on, I miss your loud donkey bray of a laugh."

Elaine stared glumly at the ground.

"You didn't even hit me for calling you Tremi! Are you coming down with a fever?"

She managed a weak smile. Calvin sighed.

"Well, it's a start."

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"Rena, what is it? You better not be having second thoughts about the wedding."

"Elaine, I just need to tell you something. I… purposely stole Benedict from you."

Elaine turned away from her sister. Rena was too gorgeous to look at in her ivory gown and pearls.

"He wasn't mine to begin with. So, you couldn't have stolen him from me. I'm surprised you even realized I like, I mean, liked him."

Rena gave her a sad smile.

"You're so dense. Everyone knew you two liked each other except for you and Benedict. I…fell in love with how he loved you. I'm so sorry!"

Tears leaked out of the corners of Rena's eyes. Elaine digested the information slowly.

"You mean we had mutual feelings? Well, it's too late for that, isn't it? …Almost everyone prefers you over me, so it probably would've happened sooner or later."

Elaine brushed back a lock of Rena's hair while Rena tried to control her sniffles.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Even if he used to like me, he's madly in love with you now. Have you seen the way he looks at you? I won't forgive you if you two aren't happy together."

Rena hugged her sister. "You're so kind." She wiped her tears away and lightly slapped her cheeks. The two left the room holding hands.

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The wedding was sweet. The guests showered the happy couple with rose petals as they walked past them. Relatives drunk themselves to unconsciousness and good food was enjoyed by all. Except for a few certain individuals. Elaine sat outside on a balcony staring at the night sky. The stars glittered brilliantly.

She felt too numb to cry and had always thought the protagonists in romance novels weak for doing so anyway. A breeze blew by, ruffling her hair.

"Aren't you cold?"

She didn't even turn around. It was such a familiar voice.

"Calvin."

A jacket dropped around her shoulders. Elaine could feel the warmth from the last body it had covered. Calvin stood in front of her awkwardly.

"So…"

She gave a little laugh.

"I'm fine. Or the punch was spiked, I feel kind of fuzzy and dead inside."

Calvin rubbed the back of his neck. He seemed to be deciding on something. Then he reached into his pants pocket and bent down on one knee. He opened the small box slowly, revealing a silver ring.

"How do you feel about spending the rest of your life with me? Best friends forever right?"

Elaine stared at the jewelry in shock. Then she jumped Calvin, hugging him tightly while laughing and sobbing into his shirt. He slipped the ring onto Elaine's finger then squeezed back.

"So, I'll take that as a yes? I remember you complaining about my method last time. Better?"

"Much."

Neither noticed Benedict lurking in the nearby shadows.

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**A/N: Uh, so I tried to end happy-ish? One more chapter of this to go—I really just want to get back to the main storyline already. The romance was way rushed—I apologize; it will be better (I hope) in the main storyline, or at least to the best of my plot-bunnies' abilities. Clarifying: Calvin and Elaine do not have romantic feelings for each other. Remember the 'business proposition' smeal I had earlier? …Well, it is now three in the morning so I think I will go to sleep. **


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